New Study Reveals Audio Ads Drive 40% of Brand Searches: Oxford Road's Groundbreaking Research
Video Podcasting Revolution: YouTube Leads as Top Platform in 2024 | CoHost Analysis
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👋 Hi, Podsky!
It's Wednesday, January 8, and happy New Year! This is the first newsletter of 2025, and I hope you enjoy it. I hope you find the content useful and informative.
I'd also like to thank the Podwires marketplace community for continuing to support the marketplace, giving podcast producers a platform to showcase their skills.
Let’s dive in - Miko Santos
In today’s podwires:
🔥 ARIAS 2025 Audio Awards Opens Entries with New Categories and Leadership
🚨 Podcast Insight: New Study Reveals Audio Ads Drive 40% of Brand Searches: Oxford Road's Groundbreaking Research
🏆 PodBusiness : CES 2025: Audacy-Claritas Partnership Revolutionizes Audio Ad Measurement
Today’s issue takes 5 minutes to read.
🔥 ARIAS 2025 Audio Awards Opens Entries with New Categories and Leadership
The Audio & Radio Industry Awards 2025 has announced that its entries open tomorrow, Wednesday 8th January 2025.
The ceremony itself will be held at Leicester Square's ODEON Luxe on Wednesday 14th May 2025. Created by The Radio Academy - a charity dedicated to supporting people in audio and radio - the ARIAS showcase the very best of UK audio. It is a night of celebration that showcases the remarkable breadth of work and profound effect the industry has on its listeners. Adjudicated by some 200 senior audio practitioners drawn from all sectors of the industry, it's a huge accolade to be nominated.
This year, the ARIAS have introduced brand-new and updated awards to reflect today's thriving industry. Now there are 21 categories open to entries. Full list below and how to enter on the ARIAS website. Every form of audio – from radio and podcasts to audiobooks and beyond – are invited to showcase and celebrate their achievements.
It is also in 2025 that there comes the arrival of a new Chair of Judges since over a decade overseen, Phil Riley now passes on the mantle to highly seasoned audio leader with over 30 years in Media, Bob Shennan. The ARIAS' new Chair of Judges Shennan will be leading a webinar all about how to enter and what the judges are looking for on Tuesday 14th January. (Read more )
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🎙️New Study Reveals Audio Ads Drive 40% of Brand Searches: Oxford Road's Groundbreaking Research
A study by Oxford Road proved that audio ads are not just wallpaper but a powerful engine for brand discovery and growth. Drawing from $400 million worth of audio campaigns over three decades, the research shows that audio ads can fuel up to 40% of a brand's search traffic, with effects lasting weeks after initial exposure.
The study entitled "The Sound of Growth: How Audio Fuels Branded Search," was conducted by Oxford Road, the world's largest podcast agency, after its merger with Veritone One. The findings are being released after the acquisition of Oxford Road and Veritone One by Insignia Capital. Here are the Highpoints:
The Key points:
Audio drives an average of 18% of branded search volume, with heavy investors seeing upwards of 40%+ impact
The effect of audio ads on search behavior can last for weeks to come beyond the initial campaign.
B2B brands tend to see longer-term effects than B2C brands, whose purchase cycles are much shorter.
Continuous audio advertising results in a stronger brand effect compared with campaigns that are run less frequently.
The study analyzed $400 million in cumulative audio campaign data collected over a period of 30 years.
Why It Matters:
This research fundamentally changed how marketers had been thinking about the place of audio within their marketing mix. Whereas lots of them have considered search as just a channel in and of itself, this study highlights that audio drives a lot of search behavior-it suggests that for companies, what might be mistakenly attributed to Search could actually reflect undervalued audio. This can lead to better budget decisions and also to enhanced tracking of ROI across channels.
The Big Picture:
The study gives the podcast industry critical validation of audio as an effective advertising medium. For podcasters, this means being able to show concrete proof that their platform can drive real business results, which could translate into higher ad rates and more ad dollars.
With such insights, podcast producers can make better ad placements and price their strategy correctly. On the other hand, the overall industry gains from data-supported proof of audio's marketing power and may accelerate advertising budget shifts toward podcast media.
🚨iHeartPodcasts Dominates December Rankings with 148M Downloads Despite Holiday Slump
iHeartPodcasts leads the podcast industry with 148 million downloads, while Disney holds strong positions. But the holiday season brought some unexpected challenges, and most publishers saw audiences decline.
According to Podtrac's December 2023 publisher rankings, the trend of audience declines during the holiday season could reshape content strategies for 2024. The data follows streaming data, downloads, and unique listeners across major podcast networks and individual shows, offering insights from networks such as iHeart, Disney, Vox Media, and various sales networks.
The Key Points :
iHeartPodcasts leads with 827 active shows, generating 148 million downloads and 27.9 million unique U.S. listeners. The Walt Disney Company secured the second place with 6.8 million listeners and 23.1 million downloads to strongly position themselves.
Holiday period disrupted regular listening patterns, with only This American Life bucking the trend
iHeart Audience Network leads globally with 627.9 million streams and 109 million YouTube views.
NPR's hourly newscast surpassed The New York Times' The Daily for the top show spot
Why It Matters:
This holiday season demonstrates how the podcast industry reacts to seasonal changes in podcast listening. Meaning publishers should prepare content and advertising strategies during peak vacation periods to keep their audience engaged.
Big Picture:
This points to some key implications for the podcasting industry: For producers, this indicates a growing interest in multi-platform distribution, particularly as iHeart seems to be doing well on YouTube.
For publishers, seasonal content planning is going to have to be considered far more carefully, and for advertisers, spend will also need to change around holiday periods. The persistence of news as a leading genre of content shows opportunities in that vertical for both creators and advertisers.
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🎙️ PODCAST NEWS
⏭️ Audioboom Hits 60 Billion Minutes of Podcast Downloads in 2024, Ranks 4th in US Market Audioboom, a major podcast platform, had a successful 2024 with massive listener growth, reaching 300 million people worldwide and paying its creators $60 million while ranking as the fourth-largest podcast publisher in America.
⏭️ Shure MV7i Smart Microphone Launches with Dual XLR/USB Capability for Content Creators. Content producers can now record instruments and voices with studio-quality sound without the need for extra equipment thanks to Shure's MV7i Smart Microphone, a professional-grade dynamic microphone with an integrated audio interface.
⏭️ iHeartPodcast Awards 2025 Returns Live to SXSW with Star-Studded Nominee List. iHeartMedia revealed that their 2025 Podcast Awards, which will honour industry leaders and feature 29 award categories, will take place live at SXSW on March 10. Ten of the best podcasts will compete for the fan-voted Podcast of the Year title.
📢 PODBUSINESS & MARKETING
⏭️ EarFun Unveils AI Translation Earbuds, Open-Ear Audio Line at CES 2025. Audio technology company EarFun is launching five new products at CES 2025, including AI-powered translation earbuds, open-ear wireless earbuds, and the world's first Lossless Auracast USB dongle, with prices ranging from $19.99 to $99.99.
⏭️ CES 2025: Audacy-Claritas Partnership Revolutionizes Audio Ad Measurement Two major companies are joining forces to create a new system that uses artificial intelligence to show advertisers exactly how well their radio and digital audio ads are performing, helping them make smarter advertising decisions.
⏭️ 2025 Audio Advertising Guide: Creative Consistency Key to Brand Growth . A thorough analysis shows that 49% of the impact of advertising on sales is attributable to creative quality, with consistent branding, fewer messages, and emotional appeals being key components of effective audio advertising campaigns.
🎧 FROM THE COMMUNITY
⏭️ PAVE's OpenMind Studio Debuts New Khloé Talk Show featuring Star-Studded Guests. Khloé Kardashian is launching a new weekly video series called "Khloé in Wonderland" under PAVE's OpenMind brand, featuring conversations with notable guests like Jay Shetty and Mel Robbins, streaming Wednesdays on X and Thursdays on podcast platforms.
⏭️ AdLarge Expands Parenting Podcast Portfolio with 'We Didn't Turn Out OK' Acquisition Child development specialist Jennie Monness hosts a brand-new parenting podcast on AdLarge Media's forward-thinking network, providing parents with a safe forum to talk about the actual difficulties and experiences of parenting.
⏭️ Gen Z Students Reveal Why Spotify's Video Strategy May Be Missing the Mark. College students claim that they prefer YouTube for video content and that Spotify should concentrate on its core competency of audio streaming. Spotify is attempting to compete with YouTube by incorporating video features into its platform.
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